In short bursts
by UniversalStrangers
Summary: Ichigo can't sleep and Orihime needs to get some things off her chest. ALSO: None of these characters belong to me. They are the property of Tite Kubo.


A huff of warm air slipped through plump lips and pierced the cold outside's air, the endless night's wide starry eyes curiously looking down at the lone female making her way through the empty white streets while swinging a plastic bag filled to the brim with leftover bread, seemingly uncaring of the bite sized balls of soft snow that kept pouring down on her silver umbrella in heaps for she had been long lost in her own thoughts to even notice such minor details. Though heavily snowing, the December air seemed relatively calm, no freezing winds howling through the leafless trees and bushes, just a slight frost to sting the noses and cheeks of the passer-by as a sort of reminder that it was still very much winter.

Orihime's long auburn hair confidently swayed behind her while she passed through the dimly lit trail back home, feeling as though she was stepping onto the same tracks she had left from yesterday's walk, which further egged on her weird thoughts of how these past few months have been nothing but a repeating circle.

Despite all of the hardships that their group had to go through to get to this point: entering Soul Society to rescue Rukia then Hueco Mundo to invade Aizen's palace and get her back, which led to Ichigo subduing Aizen at the cost of his own powers which then meant later dealing with Xcution, who manipulated them into a scheme to siphon Ichigo's Fullbring abilities, even though he ultimately succeeds in defeating in Ginjo, and then the Wandenreich... Being a bit over a year now, it all seemed like such a blur of events, spiraling one after another, that the present peace felt strangely out of place as though it was all a false sense of security once again brought out by another faceless enemy. It was either that or Orihime couldn't quite yet bring herself to believe that this seemingly normal and uneventful year was a far shadowing of the rest of her life.

As she kept pushing the stubbornly straying fringe away from her completely uncharacteristically gloomy face, Orihime couldn't help but ponder on the fact, noticing how much it actually irked her as she silently walked home.

Fishing out the keys for her apartment, Orihime quickly unlocked the stubborn door and grabbed onto the the frosty handle to push it open before entering the silent darkness inside. With a flick of her finger the lights were awake and finally the room was lit alive revealing the cozy living room, over-packed with rugs, blankets and small pillows for the atmosphere, accompanied by a simple, but neat kitchen on the other side. The view looked like a calm and warm oasis for the frostbitten. Feeling unconsciously eased the red-head let out a relieved sigh while simultaneously closing the door with her foot and promptly stopping the cold air from steeping in any further.

Toeing her shoes off and pushing into her plush slippers, Orihime leaves her umbrella open by the door to get it at least somewhat dry before shrugging off her coat, the green scarf around her neck slipping away on its own, and slowly trailing towards the kitchen. Feeling her mood slightly improve after being in her own space, Orihime started to hum lowly to herself while placing the plastic bag on the table and making 'u' turn towards the bathroom. Clicking the lights on she steps in the bathtub's direction and soon the sound of rushing water and a building steam fills the small space.

Watching the steaming water burst free from the faucet Orihime's thoughts couldn't help but easily drift off towards her tomboyish best friend, wondering if Tatsuki had made it safely over seas.

When in spring the bold, extroverted karate practitioner had first announced her receiving an invitation to a famous worldwide female karate competition in England Orihime had been overjoyed for her friend and greatly excited, knowing that for Tatsuki it was one step closer to her dream of becoming a vale tudo champion. With the papers filled and sent out with the date being set for the winter holidays, both girls proceeded to gush about the upcoming event throughout the whole trimester, but when the time had come for Tatsuki to actually pack up and step inside the airplane Orihime felt conflicted. One one hand, as Orihime waved back at the grinning black-haired girl going through the airport check-in, she wanted her best friend not to look back and have her mind completely in the tournament so she could give it her all, but on the other hand she also felt a wave of sadness wash over her, the irking feeling of being left behind not letting go of her hand even after the whole departure. Of course, Orihime knew it was only natural to feel a bit gloomy in this sort of situation, but she couldn't help but feel like it was something entirely different. She soon came to find out that it was actually a new sort of heaviness that only occurs when seeing other people steadily move towards their goals while she stud still behind them.

It was from that time Orihime found herself having more and more of those kind of thoughts, despite her attempts of pushing them away and shouting the gloom out. Though she knew they unconsciously bothered her, often sobering her up from her cheerful moods, but Orihime smoothly avoided showing anything to the others or even Tatsuki, feeling like it was something she had to figure out for herself.

With a satisfied nod at the tub's filling process, Orihime reappears in the kitchen to pour some water in the electric kettle, an overwhelming desire for something hot in her belly washing over her as she feels her chill fingers still slightly numb.

With the water warming and a cup ready for tea, the red-head glances back at tempting display of the overly sweet looking bagels peering out at the sides of the droopy bag, her mind instantly scolding her when she reminds herself how late it was. _But one innocent little treat couldn't hurt that bad, right?_

Just as Orihime was about to give into the seductive gazes those bagels kept giving her and munch on one of them as a midnight snack she hears a muffled 'beep' in the direction of her coat, the sound efficiently coaxing her thoughts elsewhere. With one last undefined glance at the bag and a clear pout over her lips, Orihime finally pushes herself away from the kitchen counters to go check her phone and clicking it awake she is surprised to be greeted by a text from a certain orange haired boy.

A surge of heat pierced her heart and it began to hammer in her chest as Orihime slowly opened the text and even if she was met with a simple 'are you still up?' she couldn't help but feel the warmth in her heart spread throughout her whole body, leaving her with slightly rosy cheeks and a flustered knit between her eyebrows. Typing in a plain and short 'yes' Orihime hears the kettle click off, signaling the complete preparation of boiling water for her tea. Without noticing that she had not actually press 'send', she discards her phone on the sofa, unintentionally burying it in the mids of pillows, and is off to make her tea.

Before she knew it Orihime was slipping into the tub and while floating in mids of bubbles her mind completely lets her astray.

. . .

Orihime hears the buzzer echo through the room, signaling the presence of someone behind her front door who demanded attention. She glances at the slowly ticking clock on her kitchen's wall and confusion washes over her as she wonders who could it be at almost one p.m., in such awful darkness, ringing her doorbell.

Leaving her half eating bagel and warm tea behind Orihime rushes towards the door before cautiously cracking it open with wary eyes. The sight before her had Orihime gasping loudly and frantically pushing the door further apart, carelessly letting the night's chilling breeze flood over her thin rosy pajama wearing self and sneak inside.

"A-ah! Kurosaki-kun! What a surprise!"

The light from her living room came pouring down on the lone figure standing outside her door with his hands in his jeans' pockets, the familiar lean yet broad in the shoulders frame and slightly snowed spiky orange hair standing out clearer now while lit. Though having a dark scarf wrapped around his throat and half of his lower face, the risen brows and slightly widened brown eyes easily gave away the confusion that sported over Ichigo's face at Orihime's sudden outburst, which had the same red-head's cheeks warming from the unwavering lashes of embarrassment. Orihime cried out on the inside, mentally burying her head in the ground as she whined about how her mind always seemed to short-circuit the moment she would see Ichigo.

Finally, when her mind had successfully restarted and was up and running again, Orihime quickly stepped aside and eagerly waved her hand for the other to step inside.

"I-I mean, come in, come in! You're going to catch a cold standing out there, Kurosaki-kun! _Please, come in!_"

Responding to Orihime's flustered pleas Ichigo wordlessly stepped inside, letting the other close the door shut behind him.

"I, _er,_ left you a text, but I guess I should have figured you didn't see it from the lack of response. Did I force you out of bed?" Slowly, Ichigo starts, turning towards Orihime and meeting her eyes with sheepish smile as he rubbed his slightly red nose. At hearing that Orihime's eyebrows unnoticeably twitched together while she brought her fingers to touch her lips in thought. _Didn't she reply to him?_

Dismissing the slight misunderstanding, Orihime quickly starts to shake her head in a 'no', hands also coming up into the air to wave around wildly as if to somehow further deny the statement.

"Oh, no! You didn't force me out of anything, Kurosaki-kun! I had just taken a bath not too long ago, that's why I'm in my pajamas. I really wasn't in bed yet, I-... _I was just midnight snaking_..." Trailing off Orihime grins shyly before pointing at her kitchen, where, indeed, the crime scene laid as left.

Ichigo slowly nods, as of expecting the answer, but smiles nonetheless before continuing, "Ah, well in any case, sorry for intruding on you, but I just couldn't sleep again. It's beginning to become a real pain in the ass this stupid insomnia."

A small smile tugged up at her lips as Orihime nodded in understatement while watching her guest turn to slowly pull off his jacket and scarf.

This wasn't the first time Ichigo had went to her as a way to fight off insomnia. It all began approximately a little less than half a year ago, when he had first learned that she had to work late most Fridays. It took a bit of time, but when that special Friday came where Ichigo had been fed up with fighting a losing battle against those rare sleepless nights, he had visited her in the bakery to try and push time.

Orihime remembered how it started off with just being a once or twice in a few months occurrence before it tumbled down into a once or twice in a month Ichigo would come and complain about insomnia then stay with her till her shift finished before promptly walking her home. Orihime couldn't place a specific date when those visits were prolonged by being held at her apartment afterwards with them staying up till dawn watching random shows or simply talking about all of the imaginable topics and on rare occasions even doing some studying, as they both were finally Seniors and the preparations for exams were an overwhelming load to take on by oneself, but she knew she wouldn't want to know because she enjoyed this quality time far too much.

She could recall clearly that one night, it was almost a few months in they were both fighting against his insomnia filled nights, when Ichigo apologized for burdening her with his problems as well as taking away her sleep and confessed how he only came here when it was really hard to sleep. Orihime could feel her chest warming up as she remembered that tender moment.

Catching herself just outright staring at the broad plains of Ichigo's back with a dazed expression, completely mesmerized by the noticeably moving and flexing muscles under the plain red long-sleeved shirt as he put up his jacket over the coat hanger, Orihime snapped her eyes away, fighting the reappearing heat that came with her flushed cheeks.

Loudly clapping her hands together once for show, Orihime settled on letting loose the large grin that had been itching to appear ever since the moment she saw him, before turning towards the kitchen and making her way in the electric kettle's direction.

"Okay! I am going to make you a cup of tea to get you all warmed up! It's so snowy tonight, you probably are cold to the bone! Did you ware those mittens I gave you last time? You always get cold hands so easily, but never wear any gloves, Kurosaki-kun. You need to watch over yourself better." Her mouth just wouldn't stop and listen to her as it proceeded to auto-run, leaving Orihime to talk for the both of them, trying to fill in the awful silence she couldn't help but dread the most. Orihime knew her mind tended to be the most talkative at those times and quite persistently loud, pushing her into conclusions and offering misleading thoughts that would just back her up into a corner later on. So as she grabbed another cup from the shelves Orihime continued to lead the seemingly one man conversation. "I also have some sweet bread I got from the bakery today if you would like something with your tea. Or maybe you want me to make you something more filling? I could also make some sandwiches. Or maybe an omelet? Ah... But last time I made it it didn't turn out so well... So maybe no omelets. Some rise balls, perhaps?"

A chuckle escaped through Ichigo's lips at his friend's rambling before a soft smile was left in place of it while he folded his arms and leaned against the sofa, just watching Orihime with amused eyes as she continued to ask questions and move around, doing all sorts of things animatedly with her back to him.

"Thanks, Inoue, but I wouldn't mind just some sweet bread with plain black tea, really."

Swiftly turning her head, which promptly made the wave of auburn hair float through the air behind her, Orihime gave Ichigo a semi confused look over her shoulder as if asking 'are you sure?', but after noticing the gentle smile playing over his lips and the entertained expression she couldn't hold it up and, before she bursts into a flustered expression, she whipped her head away, back to the cup in her hands.

"A-ah, is that so? Well, that's also fine, I guess..."

"Inuoe, you know you don't have to prepare or set up anything special, it's just me." With a sigh Ichigo pointedly reminded, watching the red-head proceed to stand on her tippy toes in reach of something in her top shelve, but still struggle. With a few swift steps Ichigo was behind her and, looming over her petite frame, he took hold of the small brown bag that her fingers continued only to graze.

Orihime could feel the heat emitting from the form standing closely behind her which ironically forced the muscles holding her upright to completely freeze up, the bit of air that had been left inside her lungs swiftly pushing out in one sharp, but consciously silent exhale. The whole position did something to the red-head as she felt multiple heatwaves hitting her hard, further muddling her mind to the point of making her unable to think or react properly.

As if instinctively Orihime let her eyes glance upwards to watch the innocent paper bag bend and audibly crumble as Ichigo's tanned fingers moved up and down for a short moment, feeling up the content inside it. A strong desire to grab onto those rough fingers and lace them together with her pale ones tore at Orihime's chest.

"I intrude on you far too often for you to keep pampering me treats every time," Carefully placing the bag into the still red-head's outstretched palm Ichigo pauses for a split second, warm brown eyes drifting over the burnt orange locks that decorated his short friend's head, before leaning in just a tiny bit more, letting his words drip off of his lips and straight into Orihime's ear. "At this rate you'll soon find yourself running out and won't have anything to prepare for the _real_ guests."

"But that is precisely why I have to, because it's you." Slowly unrolling open the top of the sweet bag, Orihime didn't even feel her lips move as she countered back absentmindedly. She had been too star-struck and fixated on the lingering feeling of warmth settling over her back, as she also tried not to spill the chocolate sweets while filling the bowl, to realize what she had just blurted out.

Unknowingly to Orihime the little comment caused far more damage than it should have had on the orange-head behind her. Just as Ichigo pulled back and finally retreated to his spot next to the couch the words hit him and he promptly tried covering up his suddenly warm face by turning away.

With the last sweet slipping into the bowl, Orihime neatly wrapped the bag up with the remaining few and, as she placed it in a more reachable place, it had dawn on her that there was a profoundly prolonged silence lingering in the background which made her gasp softly before calling over her shoulder. The soft rosiness over her round cheeks continued to stubbornly hold onto her. "Could you turn on the television, Kurosaki-kun? And please make yourself comfortable on the sofa already, I'll be right there with you once I get everything ready."

"Um, yeah. Sure."

Soon the misc of sounds filled the room and there was only comforting silence in the air between them as Ichigo did as he was instructed and sat down while Orihime went on with the tea. The red-head even took out a basket for the bread to actually try and make it look somewhat presentable rather than just leaving Ichigo to take it out from goofy looking bag which had sunflowers and rabbits on it. Or so Orihime continued to rationalize while she proceeded to stall.

When she was done and there was only left to actually sit down and enjoy Orihime felt her insides twisting in all sorts of ways. Despite this being almost like a regular Friday by now and the routine like intro had been done over a dozen of times before, it didn't diminish the fact that the guy she liked was only a few steps away from her, his distinctive cologne mingling with the air in her apartment and leaving small traces everywhere he touched only for her to notice them the next few fallowing days as the scent tended to cling and linger. Just the thought of it forced Orihime to bite down a flustered squeal that bubbled in her throat excitedly.

Finally, turning off the lights in the kitchen and leaving the television as their only source of light, Orihime brings a tray of two cups of tea, one steaming and another lukewarm, a bowl of chocolate candy and a platter of sweet bread, and gently places it on the small coffee table in front of the sofa before slowly sitting down besides a comfortably leaned back Ichigo, who glanced in the red-head's direction at the movement and lowly thanked for the hot drink before taking it into his large hands.

It wasn't long till Orihime opened her mouth and let whatever first came to her mind pour out of it.

"I forgot to ask you this at school, Kurosaki-kun, but how was soccer practice? Did you make it to the team?"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah, I did, but it ended up not really mattering in the end 'cause the game got abruptly canceled." Orihime audibly gasps while Ichigo just shrugs nonchalantly, "Something about the other team not being able to make it because they were lacking in numbers."

"What, really?" Orihime questioned, shadowy grey eyes wide as she looked over at Ichigo. "How disappointing! And after you went out of you're way to get a spot in our school's team... How unprofessional of them to cancel the last minute."

"I wouldn't say it like that... I wasn't that keen on landing a spot there, it was more Karin's idea anyway." Gingerly scratching his head, Ichigo smiled as he glanced at Orihime again, though it seemed a bit lopsided, before returning his gaze to the screen. "I kinda just went with it when they asked me to participate in the try-outs. I guess I was a bit disappointed when I didn't get to actually play."

Murmuring a quiet 'I see' the red-headed hostess bent down to grab a chocolate drop encased in a golden wrapping, mind still lingering on Ichigo's words.

"Say, Kurosaki-kun," Not taring her eyes away from the sweet she toyed with her fingers, Orihime began slowly, voice a bit lowered. "Does it still feel weird for you?"

Ichigo didn't say anything right away. Bringing the mug towards his lips Ichigo silently blew off some steam before taking a tentative sip, his fingers grazing the hot cup in between his hands as if in thought.

"Yeah, a bit." Finally Ichigo breathed out, voice low and soft as if a secret had been let loose. Then he looked over at Orihime, who was still unwrapping the glistening plastic unyieldingly protecting the candy. She could feel his gaze burning the side of her face. "What about you?"

Finally sliding the plastic off Orihime stared at the dark chocolate drop in between her slim fingers, seemingly lost in thought. She then proceeded to take the sweet into her mouth before slowly chewing on it, fully tasting the bitter flavor it held. Soon her chewing grew more confident and she was already done.

"Mhm... Me too." Leaning down to grab another piece of candy, Orihime nodded slightly before connecting eyes with an intently watching Ichigo and showing him a goofy smile, the small smears of chocolate gracing the corners of her lips making all the more affective. "But it'll all go away eventually. It may take weeks, months or even a few years to completely disappeared from everyones lives, but it will. I know it will. But, of course, like all things it just takes a bit of time. We'll just have to stick through it together and everything will turn out alright."

Ichigo rose a skeptical eyebrow despite the light smile that was already grazing his lips, completely giving away his persuaded position. "That's the plan?"

"It hasn't failed us yet, why should it now?"

Cracking a full grin Ichigo nods, giving in to the warm feeling spreading through his chest as his gaze continued to linger on the red-head affectionately.

"Yeah... You're right, Inoue. We'll get through it together, like we always do."

Orihime was glad for the television's distraction as Ichigo's eyes couldn't help but drift off back towards the alite screen and giving her an easy pass to subtly take in the boy in front of her from the corner of her eyes while also enjoying the dark chocolate melting in her mouth.

Letting herself pull up her legs on the soft cushion and wrap her arms around them, Orihime turned her head ever so slightly to lay it on the backrest in faint of getting comfortable to watch what was portrayed on the screen when in reality she had a better view to trace the sharp outlines of Ichigo's face's structure with her eyes, running through the strong jawline, gaze lingering evidently longer over the two bumps that formed his lips. She watched them part before the white cup was brought in between them and the warm liquid slither down his throat. Orihime proceeded to follow the movement and just observe how his Adam's apple hurriedly bobbled up before finally settling back down with the gulp. Orihime's eyes glinted as they glided up the smooth and slightly red skin, no doubt from the previously cold air, over the cleanly shaved cheek, taking in all the smallest freckles that were almost unnoticeable if not looked closely. Raking through the long lashes adorned around his sharply shaped eyes, her gaze lifted up to the always present slight furrow between them, the sight of it making Orihime's lips quirk upwards as she always found the seemingly menacing expression nothing more than chuckle worthy.

"What's so funny?"

The question spooked Orihime a bit too hard as she felt herself embarrassingly jumping in her seat, her heart completely changing its location and somehow successfully squeezing its way into her throat.

Ichigo averted his gaze away from the television and their eyes instantly connected, she knew that his whole attention was now fully on her (if it hadn't been already all of this time) by the way interest was so obviously dancing in his warm brow eyes along with the knowing quirk of his light brow, leaving Orihime with an open mouth to gulp air, as a fish freshly thrown out of water would, and eyes desperately darting towards the screen to find any sort of excuse. A reality show of sorts had been on, but only having a split second to catch any indication of what it could have been about and also find an amused smile worthy part in it all was a task that had been completely lost on the red-head.

"A-ah, well..." Feeling embarrassment wash over her at fact that she had undoubtedly got caught staring by the one being stared at, Orihime struggled to keep herself together as she felt like she was morphing into a human heater by the amount of heat escaping her flushed self, the tongue in her mouth tying and twisting into the most complex knot that even a veteran sailer couldn't help her out with. "_Err._.."

"Inoue," One single word breathed out in that casually low voice had Orihime clenching her legs together a bit tighter as she dreaded the reaction she'd have to turn to now. There was a gentle 'clank' that echoed through the dim room and out of the corner of her eye she saw Ichigo placing the white mug down before looking back at her. "Hey, hey, don't pretend like nothing happened. I know you were staring at me, so what were you snickering about, huh?"

"Um, I-_err_..." Glancing his way, Orihime continued struggling to form any words which made the other all the more invested into the conversation.

"Come on, tell me. Did I really have something on my face all this time?" Fingers went in to sweep away any and all imaginary crumbs that could have been littered around his mouth and cheeks, but all Orihime could really think about was how hers could do such a much better job and graze the soft skin affectionately, cup both cheeks into her petite grasp and pull the handsome face closer to hers.

The image that flashed in front of her eyes with them tangled up in each others arms sparked immense shocks in Orihime's heart, making it wildly shake with agreement, before sending out shock waves throughout her whole body and leaving it pleasingly tingly and warm in an effort to push her for more than just a teasing daydream. Though the warmth didn't last long.

Suddenly, what felt like a rock had rolled into her stomach and with it brought back the cold sensation of gloom she had been experiencing on her way home. It was a bitter reminder that this was as far as it had always gone and will probably go, that nothing really changed from the days before Soul Society despite her desperately holding onto the idea of them slowly evolving into something much more than friends.

It felt like she was seeing off Tatsuki all over a again, standing rooted in her spot, unable to do anything else but watch as her best friend leaped through obstacles and went on without her.

Noticing the sudden change in Orihime's demeanor, Ichigo pulls his hand away from his face and reaches out for the suddenly very still red-head in concern. "Hey, what's wrong?"

A pang of determination coursed through her system once she saw the gesture and Orihime let her legs slide off the cushion before she took that caring though rough hand with both of hers, squeezing it while her eyes were strictly on the slightly widen brown ones, not missing even the slightest trace of change in Ichigo's expression that could indicate discomfort or displeasure of the situation.

"Kurosaki-kun," Orihime began ever so slowly, but her eyes were far too soon crumbling into a desperate gaze. "_I can't_... I can't do this anymore. I-... _I just can't._"

Ichigo's was swift to react before Orihime could even finish her sentence or explain herself. The instant sharpness that glazed over the previously amused then surprised eyes and the sudden stiffness in his form as he sat up right rang warning bells in her ears.

"_Inoue, what do you mean? What's wrong-"_

"No, no, no, nothing like _that_." Orihime was quick to get the message and she wildly shook her head, not wanting the other to misunderstand the situation, but not having the right words thought out just yet she was left stuttering. "I... I-It's just, well..."

"Inoue, don't do that. Don't just shut me out. If there's something- _anything_\- bothering you, don't keep it to yourself. _Tell me_." It was Orihime's turn to stare in surprise as Ichigo took a gentle, but very serious tone while slightly though surely leaning in towards her in a clear effort to get his point clear and coax her into talking, which easily startled the red-head's heart into fluttering inside her chest. Ichigo softly squeezed Orihimes hand as he continued, "Tell me about it and I'll help you in any way I can. We're friends aren't we? Believe in me and tell me what's wrong."

"But Kurosaki-kun that there is exactly what is wrong..." Finally she managed to force her voice box to work again, the weak and broken tone noticeably worrying Ichigo further despite the confusion that took place on his face.

"I..." Grasping onto the warm hand tighter Orihime blew out a shaky breath as she lowered her gaze before bringing those familiar finger towards her trembling lips and ever so gently placed the softest of kisses, the amount of care and tender forced into the action was one of a person's caring for a wounded and terrified animal. With her heart on fire Orihime slowly lifted her ashen eyes to connect them with a pair of completely blown wide brown ones before continuing. "I-I don't really want to be just friends with you anymore... If you understand what I mean, Kurosaki-kun."

For a moment the only sounds that could have been heard in the room were the ones emitting out of the television, a series of commercials flashing through the screen as a low male voice encouraged to buy various products, but neither of the two teens noticed such minor details, too concentrated on each other to.

As her mind finally caught up with what her mouth had blurted out, Orihime felt herself almost doubling over in horror. The words she so desperately longed to whisper out so many times where finally out in the air for recognition and debate. And the thought terrified the girl immensely. The deep lashes of heat that ruthlessly licked at her skin seemed like the least of the red-head's problems as the stunned boy in front of her blurred, the rushing blood deafeningly loud in her ears while her stomach turned horribly nauseatingly, leaving her on the verge of fainting.

It was in that moment when Orihime thought of how easy of an escape it would be to just pass out and blame all the blurted out words solely on some sudden high fever after. It would the perfect excuse, leaving things stably as they were with no awkwardness or uneasiness as it would be just a slip of weird words of a feverish person... and yet the idea didn't sound as appealing as it should have been.

Swallowing what felt like a lump of clay stuck in her throat, Orihime stubbornly held onto her consciousness all the while gripping the warm hand in her grasp tighter, seemingly not as willing to laugh it off and carry on like nothing happened as she thought she would be.

Ichigo's eyebrows shot up uncharacteristically high, even grazing the few longer tangerine strands that fell over his forehead, as his already parted lips opened wider to address the situation, but Orihime seemed quick to cut him off before he could even manage to get a word out.

"_P-please_ don't say anything yet and just hear me out for now, Kurosaki-kun. I-I have to get this off my chest..."

Closing his mouth, wordlessly Ichigo merely nodded at the plea and Orihime smiled weakly, thankful. Letting go of Ichigo's hand the red-head shifted uneasily in her seat, not knowing how to begin, but also not wanting to prolong the silence further she opened her mouth and just let it run on autopilot while leaving her eyes down low.

"I... I'll tell you how my world has been for the longest time now... My mind is constantly filled with nothing but you and I just can't escape it, I can't even do proper everyday things anymore without somehow connecting them to you. Recently I have had absolutely no sleep because each night I find myself dreaming of you and these visions of you and I, I-... It just keeps getting harder and harder to shake them away in the morning and carry on as if nothing happened. I really hadn't meant to keep this away from you for so long, I always thought-... _Ah,_ well never mind..."

With a shaky smile Orihime pushed away the stray tickling strains of her long bangs behind her ear as she took a second to wonder where she was even going with that sentence all the while keeping her eyes strictly low and on the suddenly absolutely fascinating fluffy carpet. Her hands couldn't help but fidget over her lap in a nervous habit.

"The point I'm probably trying to make is that this really has gone far too long. You have to hear me, Kurosaki-kun, when I say I-I-... _I just want to be your girl._"

Finally she lifted her gaze up, their eyes connected again and the flush skin that sported over Ichigo's face, despite him helplessly trying to cover it with his hand, was enough of an encouragement for Orihime to continue in spite of the absolute shake in her bones of how drastically she could change their relationship in these few moments. Very carefully and on all fours she inched closer until she had covered most of the distance between them before sitting on her knees facing him and grasping onto her loose pajama pants to keep her hands from shaking as she continued to hold his excruciating stare.

"O-of course I kept telling myself the next time I would see you I would walk right up to you and say everything that's on my mind, but those plans always got pushed back... But now there's no turning away from this and I-... I-I have to make you see this is more than some secret."

With those last shaky words Orihime took a deep breath, wanting to somewhat calm her raging insides which were twisting and storming with both excitement and horror, before leaning in just tad closer so she could pop inside Ichigo's bubble to in turn pour her heart into his strong hands so he could either instantly crush it in front of her eyes or hold it safely besides his.

"I like you, I-Ichigo. I really like you. _A lot._ A-And I would like us to be a bit more than just friends- _If! _I-if, of c-course, you'll have me that is..."

There was a long torturous moment of silence where neither spoke, large grey orbs glistened as they reflected the subtle shade of overcast skies right before a light drizzle was set to break out while the deep brown tones of rich saturated soil casted in a pair of spheres glowed in the dim lighting. Yet the time wasn't all completely muted, their connected gazes spoke volumes on their own without uttering any necessary words, a strange and unique language they had unnoticeable mastered some time ago.

_Are you sure?_

_More than anything._

An audible gulp reached Orihime's ears before it was swiftly covered by the clearing of the throat as Ichigo seemed to be trying to compose himself and not let the same shocked expression fall over his features once more.

Blinking a few times as if to check if the image was still the same, Ichigo finally drew out some words, "...I-I... Er... I-Inoue, I don't know how to- _um,_ or what to-"

"I-it's alright! You don't have to put anything else into words! Just-" Orihime was quick to interject to make things clearer all the while shaking her head ever so slightly, not wanting to force Ichigo to do something that he wasn't willing or able to do. "I-I just need an answer, Kurosaki-kun. Another day in the dark and I will lose my mind, so p-please... "

There was a moment of stillness as Ichigo took in the despite look in the red-head's in front of him stare, watching how the large doe eyes shaped by thick curled lashes darted a bit while taking in his expression wholly, not wanting to miss a beat or any sort of change. The dim lighting in the room easily covered up the red that dusted her milky skin all over, but being this close gave Ichigo some privileges as all of those little hidden gems were now open for inspection.

After that it didn't take long.

Without really thinking about it and just letting his body do what it wanted Ichigo grabbed onto the sides of Orihime's arms and pulled her closer. Though it wasn't anything more than just a small tug it was enough to minimize the space between them as she fell into his open lap and flush against him with a silent yelp. Their noses bumped at their close proximity and Ichigo let his arms vine around the small waist presented for him, feeling the slight trembles running down her muscles at the foreign interaction.

"_Yes...Yes, I'd like that..."_ As if in a trance, with eyes slightly hudded and glazed, Ichigo unconsciously murmured the words into the air where their breaths mingled, his gaze lingering over their almost touching lips. When he finally brought his eyes up again to meet Orihime's, the flustered look he was received with broke the spell and Ichigo twitched his head to the side, feeling the burning sensation of his own embarrassment further eating at his face and even reaching the very tips of his ears. "I-I too... _I mean_, I really like you too... _Orihime._"

The name he had up until now only silently let fall out of his lips on the rarest of occasions had slipped off of Ichigo's tongue so easily as if naturally, surprising even the owner himself. In that moment, completely unnoticeably to him, there was a seed planted deep inside that Ichigo would only later on discover.

The feeling of soft palms and petite fingers cupping his blazing cheeks and turning his head back to face the girl currently in his lap quickly brought Ichigo's attention back to the situation at hand, but did not prepare him for what he would be shortly greeted with.

The beaming smile that graced Orihime's whole face was one Ichigo hadn't ever witness, especially directed towards him, the happily narrowed eyes seemed to just radiate pure joy as she let a small giggle slip through a pair of plump lips and a row of perfectly white teeth which were out on display courtesy of the grin. The sight of the girl, with whom he now discovered he shared mutual romantic feeling with, so absolutely overjoyed and blissfully content did something to Ichigo's body as he didn't even notice when he without a word of warning leaned in to cover her lips with his and properly seal the deal.

The kiss was unexpected on both parts, but neither pulled away and continued to let their lips introduce themselves and graze softly against one another. The interaction was slow and absolutely amateurish seeing as neither of the two had a chance to kiss around to improve their skills, Ichigo kept softly pushing and often slipping off to the sidelines as he moved against Orihime's smooth lips who also gingerly played along and tried not to just stop in mids of the act out of pure jitteriness, yet despite the awkwardness in their movements neither of the two teens seemed to even think of parting ways just yet for such silly reasons.

The tastes and sensations that came with the kiss tipped Orihime over the edge as her mind filled to the brim with what previously felt like moderately tame thoughts and wants yet now- _absolute desires._

Orihime felt the everyday cravings she would get, the needs to have the other closer, to touch his skin and lock hands, to run her fingers through the soft eye-catching orange locks that stuck out and to outline the funny furrow in between his eyebrows, to taste his lips as she listened to the same mouth whispering her name, double and hit her twice as hard, making her fingers twitch with tingles and start to softly stroke the smooth plains over Ichigo's cheeks in search for comfort.

Inhaling deeply through her nose in an effort to subdue the thoughts running wild through her mind, Orihime found herself taking in the strong cologne emitting off of Ichigo and she couldn't help but reflexively draw in more, till her lungs felt like they were going to explode.

Not long after they were forced apart as Orihime was the first to lean away and let out a long shaky breath, not being able to hold still her full lungs and keep up with her wildly pounding heart aching for more oxygen.

Orihime let her warm palms slide away from Ichigo's cheeks before placing one of them on her overworking heart as she continued to huff, feeling a bit lightheaded from the lack of air and all of the overwhelming emotions swirling inside her right now. Ichigo also felt a bit out of breath, but watching how Orihime puffed out air as if she had just got back from running a marathon couldn't help but tickle him just in the right place and he let out a breathy chuckle before hanging his head over her shoulder.

"Wha- K-Kurosaki-kun?" Orihime stuttered out through breathes of air, staring at the mass of orange locks that was now present instead of the owner's face, surprised and even a slight bit worried of the sudden action. "A-are you alright? Is there something wrong?"

"Are we going back to that? Wasn't I promoted to Ichigo just a few moments before?" Lifting his head up, but only slightly, just to be able to meet eyes with Orihime, Ichigo inquired playfully raising a light eyebrow and grinning ever so slyly which in turn made the red-head in his arms blush furiously and jump to stutter an apology, but he was already lowering his face into her hair once again. Pushing out a sigh Ichigo felt himself relax as he let the soft auburn locks tickle his nose, taking in the flowery smell of Orihime's shampoo mixed in with rare fragments of her own eccentric scent. "And yeah, I'm alright. More than alright, actually."

A familiar comfortable silence set in as the pair just sat snuggly in each others arms, feeling their wildly beating hearts slowly calm against one another as their scents mingled and skins tingled.


End file.
